“I am pleased to see firsthand … the progress that the men and women of the Justice Department have made to rebuild Iraq’s legal system and law enforcement infrastructure,”

That, my friends and neighbors is from the piehole of Alberto Gonzales. His numbers are so dismal at home..he is drumming up support in Iraq now. Excuse me whilst I laugh my ever-loving ass off at this article in the Press Enterprize.

Abu Gonzales drug a few friends along with him; Michael Sullivan, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and John Clark, director of the U.S. Marshals Service and some other not-so-lucky folks from the DoJ.

Nothing like spending your summer vacation in the Green Zone for a photo op with Gonzo.

I know it’s a long title. But its the title of a very valuable tool that congress can use if they have to take BushCo to court in order to get Harriet and Rover to testify. The report was prepared by the Congressional Research Service. This report was last updated October 6th 2004. Just a little about the CRS:

The Congressional Research Service is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a confidential, nonpartisan basis.

History and Mission

Congress created CRS in order to have its own source of nonpartisan, objective analysis and research on all legislative issues. Indeed, the sole mission of CRS is to serve the United States Congress. CRS has been carrying out this mission since 1914, when it was first established as the Legislative Reference Service. Renamed the Congressional Research Service by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, CRS is committed to providing the Congress, throughout the legislative process, comprehensive and reliable analysis, research and information services that are timely, objective, nonpartisan, and confidential, thereby contributing to an informed national legislature.

The short of it is..the CRS is the legal research brain of Congress. They have provided Congress with a fairly good oral argument, imho, they can use when Bush’s latest bullshit move is taken through the court’s. But on to their report.

Since 1944, 74 members of the Presidents inner circle have testified before congress or their committee’s. Only 8 have refused or weren’t compelled to testify. Thats a LOT of friggin precedence sportsfans…lots of it. Guess who the guy is that currently is playing advisor to the Prez on this topic…go ahead..guess already.

Fred Fielding. Freddy was a legal counsel to Nixon. During WaterGate. We know how that turned out..nuff said. But I digress…

Don’t buy Tony Snow’s latest round of horseshit that Congress has no oversight when it comes to the President. Mr. Snowjob used the words ‘unprecedented’ and ‘highly unusual’. We are calling bullshit on that right here and now.

Tony Snow had the audacity to state in a press conference last week that if Harriet and Rove went into the lions den known as Congress, under the terms set by Congress, it would set a precedence. His exact words were:

Q If it’s behind closed doors, what’s the problem?

MR. SNOW: The thing that we have said all along is, we think that you ought to have the ability for members of Congress to get information in a way that also does not create precedence, and is going to have a chilling effect for presidential advisors to be able to give their full and fair advice to the President of the United States. We think that the compromise we shaped enables us to fulfill that obligation to the President, and to the public in terms of first-rate advice from the White House and the people working in the White House, and at the same time, allows Congress to do what it has to do, which is conduct oversight. There is nothing that says Congress has to have television; it says that Congress does have oversight responsibilities and needs to get at the facts.

In his next breath..he said this:

Q They get to be in public, but you want your guys behind closed doors.

MR. SNOW: There are — in this particular case, the Department of Justice — the Congress does have legitimate oversight responsibility for the Department of Justice. It created the Department of Justice. It does not have constitutional oversight responsibility over the White House, which is why by our reaching out, we’re doing something that we’re not compelled to do by the Constitution, but we think common sense suggests that we ought to get the whole story out, which is what we’re doing.(emphasis mine)

If Congress thinks the executive branch is pulling a fast one or lying their asses off, you bet your left nut(or tit) they have oversight responsibility over the White House. I don’t give a shit what Tony Snow says. Yes, they could have a Special Prosecutor..but why waste time? Do it yourself Congress, cut out the damn middle man ok? Thanks, now stick to your guns please.

Another question everyone should be asking is why in the blue hell did BushCo slip in that little amendment to the fucking Patriot Act that said they could appoint who ever they friggin wanted without Congressional approval? You know they backed their asses down from that one as soon as everyone on the Hill thought about it. But a bigger question is..

Why would they put a mindless fuckwit like Tim Griffin in one of the USA’s post? This man has never done a fucking thing that mattered unless you count being a Republican operative and a good bud of Karl Rove. Thats part of the job description for US Attorney now? No shit?

I doubt it. But Rove thought he was perfect for Bud Cummins job in Arkansas. And guess what? Timmy got it..without being confirmed by the Congress, thanks to that g-d Patriot Act provision I mentioned earlier.

Another point of fact. Rove is known for using the RNC email system instead of the government email system. Perhaps part of the missing email trail is there. Its worth a look, its worth asking him about. As Froomkin points out here, It’s against the law to use the RNC email system while your working for the executive branch. Its something about accountability. That pesky accountability thing..damn I just know Bush and Rove hate that.

As Salon writer Joe Conason points out, Rove is a liar. He calls him a proven liar, but I won’t go that far. Four trips to the Grand Jury say he wasn’t sharing recipes and frankly I do believe Conason when he says the reason Rover had 4 trips to the GJ is because he narrowly skirted an indictment his OWN self and finally fessed up that he was involved in outing Valerie Plame.

I have laid out enough reasons that Harriet and Rove should testify in front of Congressional committees. They should testify under oath and with a transcript of the hearing. Nothing less should be accepted. I would also like to see it on Cspan, but I will sit and read the transcript if I have to.

You can bet your sweet ass that I will read the transcript. Bush hasn’t seen the last of Congressional oversight. Fuck that bastard, the shit hasn’t even started to be flung. Get those raincoats and rubber boots on boys..your ass and your bullshit are about to be exposed.

This is short, but VERY sweet. The folks at Bring it On! Made it..specifically my beloved “Cranky” did it this morning over his breakfast cereal! Stop by BIO and give them a shout out for doing this for us to enjoy ok?

The Shrub also stated Rover and Miers will NOT appear under oath. He used the phrase “Dem’s are using this to score political points”- which is not a direct quote since his speech-i-fying is not on the WH website yet.

He also said he is sorry that these decent USA’s are being held up to scrutiny, but thats the way it is.

He used the “political points” line and the phrase “show trials” numerous times. You know Bush, he loves his slogans.

It lasted about 3 minutes. When the WH website has the speech up, I will enlighten as to its direct quotes.